Sinn Féin councillor Caroline Dwane Stanley resigns from the party

Kenneth Fox

Sinn Féin councillor Caroline Dwane Stanley has resigned from the party “due to it not being a safe place”.

The wife of former party TD Brian Stanley, who is now an Independent, released a statement on her official Facebook page on Friday evening.

The Laois councillor said she has resigned from Sinn Féin with immediate effect.

She said in a statement: "During my 27 years of membership, I worked diligently to advance the objectives of the party. I met and worked with some great republicans on that journey and will always cherish those memories.

"I have given this careful consideration and reflection over the recent past and decided to resign my membership of Sinn Féin.

"Given how the party leadership dealt with the controversy that arose in July and related matters since then including outright attacks on both me personally and my family by some local party members, I have come to the conclusion that Laois Sinn Féin is not a safe place to be."

The controversy relates to a complaint made about her husband Brian Stanley which resulted in an internal party inquiry. At the time he questioned the party’s process, claiming it “lacked objectivity” and it was “seriously flawed”.

Ms Stanley said she hoped the party leadership would have made the effort to engage with her directly over it but said "no contact has been made by the leadership with me over the past five months."

"While the party has always prided itself on the values of equality and in particular supports for women in politics, in my case this has proven to be a fallacy.

"With this in mind I have decided that the time is right for me to draw a line on 2024 and resign, look to the future and embrace what I hope will be a better political future in the time ahead.

"I will continue in my role as an independent republican councillor providing vigorous and effective representation for the Portlaoise/Abbeyleix Municipal District," she said.